Natarle Badgiruel
Natarle Badgiruel (ナタル・バジルール, Nataru Bajirūru?) is a fictional character in the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Personality & Character Natarle comes from a long family history of honor and prestige to the Earth Alliance, it was natural for her to continue the lineage as a career soldier. As an officer, she's less emotional, caring, strict, and by-the-book when it comes to taking action. Because of her constant soldier mentality, it often makes her less likable, but also maintains perspective in terms of tactical and military decisions. She's a strong supporter to the Alliance. Although she is shocked upon hearing that her superiors were planning to sacrifice her former crewmates along with the Eurasian forces at the Battle of JOSH-A, she accepted the Alliance's decision. After the Earth Alliance destroys Boaz with nuclear missiles, Natarle began to seriously question whether or not she is doing the right thing. When Azrael orders the Dominion to kill Captain Ramius and the rest of her former crewmates on board the Archangel does she defy his orders. Natarle is least understood by her peers. She has been driven to be a career soldier so long that people forget that she's still a woman. She developed feelings for Mu La Flaga, but driven by her sense of duty and emotional protective nature, she never shown her softer side for people to appreciate. Only in the final moments of her life that she broke her mold and listened to her heart. Skills & Abilities Natarle is a skilled tactical officer, excelling in ship combat tactics. Trained to be a career soldier, she's a capable ship piloting and using fire arms. History The Archangel The child of a military family, Natarle is a promising young Earth Alliance officer. Stationed on Orb's Heliopolis colony as part of a secret project to produce weapons capable of fighting ZAFT's mobile suits, Natarle is one of the few survivors when ZAFT's Le Creuset team raid the colony to seize the new weapons. She then becomes the executive officer of the Archangel and supervises the ship's Combat Information Center. She holds reservations about allowing Kira Yamato, a Coordinator, to remain on board the ship as a Gundam pilot but Captain Murrue Ramius disagrees. Natarle is stern and operates by the book, though some incidents show she is willing to do almost anything to reach a certain end, even when it conflicts with Captain Ramius. The first incident occurs when Natarle threatens Lacus Clyne to stave off ZAFT forces after they destroy an Atlantic Federation fleet. The second incident occurs after the Archangel rendezvous with Admiral Lewis Halberton and his Eighth Fleet. Natarle says that they can't afford to let Kira leave and suggests taking his parents hostage. Admiral Halberton rebukes her and both actions produce friction between her and Captain Ramius. Nevertheless, Natarle is a superb tactical analyst with keen judgment and a knack for swift decision-making, which made her a valuable asset to the Archangel. When they finally arrive at JOSH-A, Natarle was transferred to a shore assignment. In their last encounter face-to-face, Captain Ramius thanks Natarle and says she will make a fine captain someday. When ZAFT launched a surprise attack on JOSH-A in an effort to wipe out of the Alliance, the Archangel and Eurasian forces were dispatched to deal with them, Atlantic Federation personnel secretly made their escape. Natarle was among them. However, she overheard a few soldiers discussing the Atlantic Federation's plan to use a secret Cyclops system underneath JOSH-A to wipe out the ZAFT forces and the base's defenses. The Dominion Natarle was eventually promoted to Lt. Commander and was again reassigned to command as the new Captain of the Dominion, the Archangel's sister ship. While attempting training exercises with her crew, a representative from the Defense Committee, Muruta Azrael, came to the Dominion as an observer, explaining that they are to hunt down and destroy the Archangel, which had survived the battle of JOSH-A and had gone rogue. Tragically, she is forced to battle her former crew at the Mendel colony. At first, she tried to appeal to her former crew to come back to the Alliance but Murrue politely declined, explaining that they have serious doubts about Alliance forces in their entirety. Azrael then mocked Natarle's attempts to solve things through discussion and then orders the Calamity, Raider and Forbidden to launch and attack. Through Natarle's strategies, they were able to outmaneuver the Archangel but came at a disadvantage when it received firing support from the Eternal and Kusanagi. Battle of Jachin Due & Death During the final stages of the battle, ZAFT launched a life pod carrying Flay Allster, carrying data on the Neutron Jammer Canceller. Azrael put this technology to use by using it for nuclear weapons to use against the PLANTs. The Dominion then joined the Alliance fleet to engage the whole of the ZAFT forces. The Alliance forces fire nuclear missiles but they are all intercepted by the Freedom and Justice. Then, ZAFT unveiled its ultimate weapon, GENESIS, which eliminated entire fleets and the Ptolemaios base on the Moon. Though Natarle wanted to take out the superweapon, Azrael was obsessed with the destruction of the PLANTs and threatened to shoot her for insubordination. When the Archangel came into view, Azrael demanded that she destroy that ship of traitors once and for all. In the ensuring fight, both ships were heavily damaged. Natarle, wishing with all her heart that her former crewmates could just end this. Flay, who was the communication officer at the time, tried to warn the Archangel, causing Azrael to attack her. Natarle held him back, ordering her crew to abandon ship. Azrael got out of her grip and shot her several times. Presuming her finished, he attempted to fire the remaining Lohengrin but Natarle stopped him, as the Archangel fire back, destroying the Dominion and killing Natarle and Azrael. Notes *A series of one shot mangas to promote the Gundam SEED: Tomo to Kimi to Senjou de Game Boy Advance game imply that Natarle may have been jealous of Murrue's relationship with Mu La Flaga. During the Archangel's stay in Orb, a damaged shirt of Mu's is missing from the ship's laundry room. Kira and his friends try to solve the mystery, ultimately realizing Natarle repaired the shirt for him, after requesting sewing lessons from Miriallia Haw. *In the above mentioned game itself, there is an option to get an "alternate ending" to the TV series. While in Orb, the Heliopolis kids can help Arnold Neumann with his unrequited crush on Natarle. If successful, this side-event will culminate in Neumann working up the nerve to confess to Natarle, with the latter returning his affections. This alternate outcome affects the final scenarios of the game, where Natarle also abandons ship after ordering the Dominion's crew to do so and warns Murrue of Azrael's intentions so the Archangel fires first, negating Mu La Flaga's sacrifice (Flay Allster still dies as per the canon). External Links Badgiruel, Natarle